Miguel Mateos (born January 26, 1953) is a rock and pop music singer/songwriter from Villa Pueyrredon, Argentina. He is considered one of the most important exponents of Rock en Espanol, specially in the 1980s when he along with Charly Garcia, Soda Stereo, Enanitos Verdes, Virus, Sumo, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rata Blanca, and many more bands became international stars in the so-called "Argentine Invasion" ("La Ola Argentina") of rock music that swept Latin America and parts of North America and Europe. It would help popularize Spanish-language rock outside of Argentina, and make the genre a commercially successful industry.
History
Becoming involved in music since he was 15, in 1979 he and his brother Alejandro formed underground rock band ZAS. The following year he managed to contact Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and gain a spot on stage as the opening act for the British group for their Buenos Aires concerts. He turned ZAS into one of the most important Argentine rock bands of the early 80s.
In 1986, Mateos recorded in the United States his first solo album (officially, but in practice he still used members of ZAS as supporting band). With a much more polished sound, and greater pop accessibility than the ZAS works, Mateos jumped on the crest of the wave of Argentine rock acts that dominated the 1986-1988 period all over Latin America, Spain, and elsewhere.
Solos en America was considered a watershed album containing cuts that would become classics of Rock en Espanol from that time, including the homonymous track, "Cuando Seas Grande", and "Mi Sombra en la Pared".
Riding a wave of massive popularity in Mexico, Mateos introduced the slogan "Rock en tu Idioma" (Rock In Your Language) in 1987. He began touring that nation, introducing along the way local acts such as Caifanes and Maldita Vecindad, among others. All those groups would become major acts in their own right within a short period. In the 1987-1988 Mateos would tour Latin America to sell-out stadiums.Miguel Mateos Biography www.terra.com.mx (Spanish) He was among the first Rock en Espanol acts to receive active support from fledgling MTV International.
The 1990s would be a period of continued solo success for Mateos and his now adult-pop rock music across the Spanish-speaking world, though ironically he would drop off somewhat in popularity in his homeland. In general, what in the rest of Latin America is considered rock, in Argentina tends to be seen as pop. This has sometimes led to cultural confusion about how to categorize the current Miguel Mateos musical output, as outside Argentina Mateos remains an iconic figure of the Rock en Espanol movement.
Mateos went on the so-called first Rock en Espanol tour of the United States in 1990, where he was awarded the Bravo Musical Award. He released Bar Imperio in 1998 and after a hiatus released Uno in 2005.
External links
References
Other pages about Argentine musicians
-Adrian Dargelos -Adrian Iaies -Agustin Bardi -Alberto Caracciolo -Alberto Cortez -Alberto Ginastera -Alejandro Lerner -Alfredo Casero -Andres Calamaro -Anibal Troilo -Ariel Ramirez -Ariel Rot -Astor Piazzolla -Bajofondo Tango Club -Bernarda Fink -Bruno Sanfilippo -Buenos Aires 8 -Carlos Gardel -Carlos Guastavino -Carlos Lopez Puccio -Carlos Moscardini -Carlos Nunez Cortes -Carlos Rivero -Carlos di Sarli -Chango Spasiuk -Charly Garcia -Christian Basso -Daniel Rabinovich -Dino Saluzzi -Dominic Miller -Edmundo Rivero -Eduardo Arolas -Emilio Kauderer -Ernesto Acher -Facundo Cabral -Felipe Colombo -Fito Paez -Francisco Canaro -Francisco Lomuto -Gerardo Masana -Gilardo Gilardi -Guillermo Cazenave -Gustavo Cordera -Gustavo Santaolalla -Hector Del Curto -Hernan Cattaneo -Indio Solari -Javier Weyler -Jorge Calandrelli -Jorge Maronna -Jorge Martinez (musician) -Juan D'Arienzo -Juana Molina -Julio Salvador Sagreras -Kevin Johansen -King Africa -La Mona Jimenez -Leon Gieco -Liliana Herrero -Lito Vitale -Luca Prodan -Luis Alberto Spinetta -Manuel Alcon -Manuel Buzon -Marciano Cantero -Marcos Mundstock -Maria Cristina Kiehr -Miguel Abuelo -Miguel Calo -Miguel Mateos -Nacha Guevara -Oscar Milani -Oscar Moro -Pablo Ziegler -Palito Ortega -Pappo -Pedro Aznar -Raul Porchetto -Ricardo Iorio -Roberto Firpo -Roberto Pettinato -Rodolfo Biagi -Rodolfo Mederos -Samuel Castriota -Sandra Mihanovich -Sindicato Argentino del Hip Hop -Sixto Palavecino -Tanguito -Tweety Gonzalez -Uncle Castro
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Miguel_Mateos
